


The Voice in my Head

by Marvel_girl109



Series: Post-Civil War Fanfictions [3]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Anger Outbursts, Anxiety, Becoming Brothers again, Brotherly Bonding, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Civil War Team Iron Man, Depression, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Donnie Gill Recovering, Donnie is Tony's adopted son, Eating Disorders, F/M, Fan-Fiction writer Kamala, Harley Keener is amazing, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, M/M, Not Clint Friendly, Not Steve Friendly, Not Wanda Friendly, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Panic Attacks, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Peter Parker, Riri and Kamala are best friends, Rubik's Cubes, Schizophrenia, Sleep disorders, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, The New Avengers hate the Rogue Avengers, The Rogues think they own the place, Thor & Loki Friendship, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-03-31 08:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13971288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marvel_girl109/pseuds/Marvel_girl109
Summary: The Rogue Avengers have returned to the Compound after six months of being fugitives.They return believing that nothing will be different but they are shocked at how much has really changed.Bucky struggles between the Voice in his head telling him one thing but the people around him telling him something different.Tony Stark doesn't seem like the person the Rogues made him out to be but can he really trust anything that he sees or hears?Bucky is about to find out that Steve and the Rogues aren't the family he is looking for.





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words spoken that are outlined with *** are words spoken by the Soldier in Bucky's head. 
> 
> Also whenever Bucky is speaking back to the Soldier, he is not saying the words out loud.

Bucky looked out the windows of the Wakandan jet. Sam had mentioned that they were almost home and Bucky was intrigued to see the Compound. However, he was also sad to leave Wakanda behind. He had made new friends in T'Challa and his sister, Shuri and he was going to miss them. Shuri promised to keep in touch though. 

Bucky brightened up when he recognised the Avengers symbol on the side of a large building. The voice in his head instantly mapped out the size, height and possible exits that he could already see. He probably wouldn't need the information but Bucky somehow felt safer knowing it.

The jet touched down just outside the Compound. Bucky could practically feel the relief coming off of everyone in the jet. They were glad to be home. Bucky wasn't entirely sure whether he was yet.

He let everyone leave ahead of him. He could already spot people waiting for them out of the jet windows and they didn't look particularly happy. He didn't want to be the centre of attention right now. He would happily stay on the jet until everyone was gone but he knew that wasn't an option. Not with Steve standing there waiting expectantly for him.

He slowly made his way out of the jet. When Steve was confident that he would follow, he turned around and followed his group of friends. Bucky hung back and tried his best to not draw attention to himself.

It had been six months since the fight in Siberia and Tony Stark had found out what Bucky had done to his parents. No matter what Steve said, he had killed Howard and Maria. He had killed all his victims.

As he came to a stop, a few feet behind everyone else, he looked at the people waiting for them. Three of them he recognised but the other three he didn't. As soon as he had seen them, his brain was already making profiles on each person of information he knew and what he could see. He had to wait for information on the other three but it was soon given to him.

"Thor! Bruce! Where have you been?" Clint asked.

The God of Thunder and the Hulk. HYDRA had been fascinated by the two of them. They didn't really care much for recruiting or using them but, even Bucky had to admit, the two strongest Avengers were interesting. He looked at the woman standing beside the two of them. The last one he didn't know.

"Friends, it is good to see you again," Thor said. "I have heard of what has transpired here on Earth and I hope we can all move on from it together."

Bucky instantly liked Thor. And he wasn't the only one.

***"I like him."*** 

"You? Trusting somebody?" Bucky joked.

***"I said I liked him. I never said trusted."***

"It takes a lot for you to like someone though."

Bucky turned back to the conversation happening in front of him.

"Of course, Thor," Steve said. "This will be a fresh start."

Bucky noticed movement and saw that both Tony Stark and James Rhodes were glaring at Steve. Steve hadn't seemed to have noticed. Actually none of Steve's friends had even glanced in Stark's direction since they had arrived.

"Who's your friend?" Sam asked.

Thor turned to the woman standing next to him.

"This is Brunnhilde, the Valkyrie. A friend from Asgard."

"Hmm. More Asgardians," Clint mused.

"Worry not my friends. I will explain everything once you are settled in. You have travelled a long way."

Thor waved for them to follow him. Him and the Valkyrie led the others inside. Bucky couldn't help but notice that Bruce Banner had not spoken at all and spent the whole time avoiding Natalia's eyes. He saw the attempt to try and make eye contact with him that ultimately failed. There was obviously a history there. 

Bucky looked up at the Compound. It was quite tall. Bucky would easily be able to survive a jump from the roof to the ground. Truthfully, he didn't like tall buildings. Or anywhere up high. Being with HYDRA always made him feel like he was falling, letting go and plummeting to his doom. Jumping from that building in Bucharest had been horrible. Of course his training and the adrenaline rush had chased most of the anxiety away but it was still there, hidden away until it was ready to consume him.

"Barnes? You don't want to get left behind."

Bucky looked down and saw that everyone, except Stark, Rhodes, Vision and Banner, were gone. Bucky ducked his head and went after the others. 

***"You shouldn't let your mind wander the way you do."***

"I can't always help it." 

***"Good thing I'm watching out for you then."***

Bucky's room was very ordinary. Just an ordinary apartment. It was perfect. He didn't like things being over the top. They could have put him in a cupboard and he would have liked it even better. Of course, he wasn't going to ask for a cupboard. Steve would go mental. So he settled for the large wardrobe. It was very spacious inside. 

***"I like it in here."*** 

"Me too." 

 

After they had toured their rooms, Thor and the Valkyrie took them to the common area where they were surprised to find three teenagers huddled together over a tablet. None of them looked up as they came in and the teens continued to ignore them all as Stark came into the room. 

"You satisfied with your rooms?" Stark asked, not giving any emotion away on his face. Bucky could see that he was trying to hold in his anger towards them. Everyone else obviously missed this. 

"What happened to our old rooms?" Wanda asked. 

"The entire Compound was remodelled while you were gone to accomodate everything and everyone new. Don't worry about your things. They've been put into storage. You can go and collect them anytime you want." 

Bucky thought that was pretty reasonable. 

"Why do we have to go and get our stuff? Someone should go and get it for us. It shouldn't even have been touched in the first place." 

You had to give credit to Stark for him keeping that straight face. 

"If you have a problem you will have to take it up with the Council," Stark said, before he turned to the kids. Before he had a chance to say anything to them, Clint spoke up. 

"What do you mean, the Council?" 

Stark, along with Thor and the Valkyrie, all looked confused. 

"Did T'Challa not tell you about the Accords Council?" 

Yes, he did. He would have liked to be able to warn Stark that that conversation did not get positive reviews. In any way shape or form. 

"I thought that was a joke. You can't be serious about the Accords." 

Stark just stared at Clint in disbelief. 

"Actually it's deadly serious," The Valkyrie said, speaking for the first time since they had got here. 

The kids had now abandoned the tablet and were staring up at Clint. 

"I'm not signing the Accords!" Clint said, sounding like it was outrageous to ask that from him. 

"Why? We all did," one of the kids, a girl, said. "Why would you get special treatment?" 

Clint just sneered at the girl. 

"I don't answer to kids." 

Bucky thought that was going a bit too far. And apparently so did the Valkyrie. She stepped forward to block Clint's path to the kids. 

"You should answer her question," the Valkyrie said. 

Clint went to push her out of the way. To say that Clint was badly humiliated would be an understatement. The Valkyrie barely had to move a muscle to have Clint kneeling at her feet, in pain. 

"Leave, all of you. You will have to get used to the new rules and recruits. If not, I'll tear your arms off. It will be funny to see how you cope without them." 

Bucky could tell that she would be able to fulfil that claim. He slowly backed away, dragging Steve with him. When Steve went, everyone else followed. 

Bucky went straight back to his room and locked the door. He went straight for the large wardrobe and pulled out his Rubik's Cube. Shuri had given it to him as a joke but he found it to be a good coping mechanism when he was alone. It helped him focus his thoughts and stop them from running wild. 

Despite the fact that there were a couple of walls between his and Steve's bedroom, he could still hear the other's conversation. 

"It's ridiculous. We showed how corrupt they are to the world. Why is Stark still kissing the Government's ass? Does he have a shred of dignity left?" 

"Calm down, Clint," he could hear Wanda respond. "We'll sort it out. We'll save the world from the Accords. It's what we do." 

"It's not just that. Those were kids out there that have signed the Accords," Sam said. "They're going to be in danger." 

"Stark has some nerve. I knew there were a few new additions to the team but kids?" Clint said, angrily. 

Bucky blocked out the conversation after that. He wasn't in the mood to listen to arguments. He was feeling shaky ever since the Valkyrie threatened them. 

***"You have to be ready."*** 

"I don't want to talk right now." 

***"I don't care. My main mission is keeping us safe. If you're going to let your guard down, then I might as well give up."*** 

"Oh shut up. You know I'm not going to let my guard down. Especially not with you wandering around my head." 

Bucky was getting the distinct impression that the voice was rolling his metaphorical eyes. 

***"I'm just worried about us Bucky."*** 

"You're too damn paranoid. Just calm down and let me do what I do best. I knew how to look after myself in a hostile environment long before I met you." 

The voice huffed but quietened down. Bucky only got faint thoughts from him every so often. He got back to finishing solving the Cube. He had solved it countless times before he heard a knock on the door. He climbed out of the wardrobe and looked towards the clock on the wall. Three hours had passed. Damn. 

***"You said you wouldn't let your guard down."***

"Don't mock me."

Bucky unlocked and opened the door, to see Steve standing on the other side. 

"Hey. We're all going to go and find some dinner if you want to come."

Bucky nodded and followed Steve down the hallway. They met up with the others outside Wanda's room and then left to find the kitchen. The others seemed relieved that the kitchen was in the same place that it had been before. They walked in and found Thor eating some pop tarts with a young boy. The boy hadn't been with the other kids earlier so this was the first time Bucky was seeing him. The boy looked to be about twelve with curly, brown hair. Both Thor and the boy looked up as they came in.

"Hey Thor," Steve greeted. He looked surprised to see the young boy. Wanda and Clint looked outright disgusted to see the child there. Bucky frowned at their behaviour but almost laughed when the boy just stuck his middle finger up at them and left. Everyone, except Bucky and Thor, were shocked at the behaviour.

"Children shouldn't act like that," Sam said. 

Scott just shrugged it off, opened the nearest cupboard and started eating the first thing he found. Bucky liked Scott. He didn't spend his time arguing and moaning about things that can't be fixed like the others. Bucky wondered why Scott was okay with this behaviour though as he was one of the two people in the room that actually had children. However, Scott's own behaviour was questionable at best so it wouldn't be a complete surprise if his daughter acted the same way. 

Thor shrugged the behaviour off too. Then surprisingly he turned to address Bucky.

"Sergeant Barnes, Tony and Bruce have told me that the device for helping you is finished and you will be able to start using it whenever you feel ready."

Thor smiled warmly at him. Bucky couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you."

"Hang on! Stark was part of it!" Clint demanded but Thor's mind was already off the subject.

"What is that strange contraption?" 

Bucky realised he was still holding the Rubik's Cube. He held it up so Thor could see it properly.

"It's a Rubik's Cube. Look you mess it up like this... and then you have to solve it."

Bucky did a quick demonstration for Thor, who watched with barely contained interest. Bucky then passed it over to Thor so he could take a look. 

"Fascinating."

"Yes, it's all very fascinating," Clint interrupted. "Now can you answer my question? Stark made the thing that's supposed to go inside Bucky's head?"

Thor frowned at Clint's rudeness. 

"Yes, Stark created it."

Steve and Clint shared a look. 

"Then Bucky's not using it," Steve said.

Thor looked even more confused.

"I think I can decide for myself Steve," Bucky said, quietly. 

"No offense," Clint said, "but you're not really responsible or stable enough to make decisions for yourself."

Bucky looked to Steve. Steve would disagree with what Clint had said, surely. But Steve said nothing. Just looked at Bucky with pity. All of them were.

Bucky suddenly felt a force push against his mind, fighting to be set free. No. He couldn't let him out. Not around other people. So he ran. When he finally stopped running, he wasn't sure where he was. He was still in the Compound but the Compound was a big place and he had only been in a small section of it.

Shame and betrayal threatened to overwhelm him. How could they say that? It may be true but he had spent most of his life unable to disobey or make his own choices. The last thing he wanted to hear was that from people who were supposed to be his friends. Anger felt like it was going to burst out of him. The force still fighting to break free. He needed to find his room. Bucky went to focus on his Rubik's Cube to calm himself down before realising he didn't have it. He had left it with Thor.

Panic was rising up now. He couldn't set him free. There were children in this building. He ran again and in a blur of movement, he found himself on the roof. He sat down with his legs hanging over the edge and just focused on his breathing. He tried to ignore the voice shouting to set him free. Bucky fought against him though and finally he was able to push him back. He locked the voice in a metaphorical cage so that he couldn't hear him. Just until he calmed down.

He dug his fingers, both metal and flesh, into the roof and put as much pressure onto them as possible. It hurt, at least his flesh hand, but he was finally able to think properly and breathe normally. He stared out over the grounds of the Compound and tried to keep his mind blank like Hydra had taught him. Although he hadn't exactly enjoyed his time with Hydra, they had taught him some things that could be very useful at times like these.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there but it must have been a few hours because by the time the door to the roof opened, the sun had already set. Bucky already knew who was walking towards him before they sat down beside him. Thor smiled kindly at him and swung his legs over the side of the building like Bucky. He saw that Thor was holding a plate with some food on it and his Rubik's Cube. Thor passed the food over to him without a word. Bucky eagerly tucked in and watched with amusement as Thor attempted to solve the Cube by himself.

It took Thor fifteen minutes to be able to finish it. Bucky was impressed that Thor would even understand how to do it considering he had no idea the thing existed a few hours ago. Thor held it up in the air when he was finished. 

"Yes! I am victorious!" 

Bucky laughed and placed his empty plate to the side. Thor handed the Cube back to him. 

"Barton was wrong to say what he did. Everyone should always be given a choice."

After that they sat in silence. Thor seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk or anyone to talk to him. He only wanted company and that's what Thor gave. After a while, he decided to open the cage. 

"Are you okay?" 

***"You locked me away!"*** 

"Sorry. I was scared they were going to find out about you."

***"I know. I'm sorry too. I just couldn't hold back my anger. How dare they say something like that after all we've been through!"***

"I know. I was angry as well but you can't fight me for control otherwise they'll find out about us. I don't want to think about what they'll do if they find out."

***"I promise to control myself. As much as I can anyway."***

"Thanks." Bucky rolled his eyes. 

There was silence for a few moments.

***"Thank you for keeping me safe, Bucky."***

"Thanks for keeping me company, Soldier."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue about any relationships that are going to happen. I'm kind of going to see where the story takes me but if you guys have any ideas on where you want this to go, feel free to tell me.


	2. Chapter Two

Tony threw a spanner across the lab. Did those idiots think they were going to get away with not signing the Accords? Jesus, what did they think was going to happen when they came back? That everything was going to go back to the way things were before? Fuck them, seriously!

"Tony, calm down," Brunnhilde said. 

It had been hours since his last encounter with the Rogue Avengers. They were actually supposed to be having dinner at the moment but FRIDAY had alerted him that the Rogues were in there. Fine, he would eat later. 

He threw himself down on the sofa, making sure to drape his legs all over Loki's lap. Loki was not impressed.

"What are you doing, Stark?" 

"What does it look like? I'm pissed off so I'm going to piss you off."

"Why?" 

"Because I can."

With that said, he looked away and stared around his workshop. He wouldn't admit that he was scared; it was easier to be angry. He had spent the last few months getting the Avengers up and running again and making sure the Accords worked.

Of course it helped when Thor and Bruce came back from their little trip to Sakaar. He had to tolerate Loki's presence but the guy could actually be quite fun sometimes.

Then there were other times where he was angry as all hell and tried to rip someone's, usually Thor's, head off. However, Tony himself had been on the receiving end of one of Loki's outbursts before and boy, wasn't that just the best day of his life. Hospital for three days. There had been some serious glaring contests for the weeks that followed. 

Tony's phone alerted him that he had a text message. He checked it and saw that it was from Peter. He was home safely and having dinner with his aunt.

Riri and Kamala had also sent him texts assuring him that they were at home, safe. He sighed in relief. He always worried that something would happen to them when they were on their way home.

He settled himself in a more comfortable position on the sofa. Loki hadn't pushed him off or thrown him across the room yet so he obviously didn't mind Tony literally laying across him. However, he was pushed off when Thor entered the room looking a bit panicked. Loki and Brunnhilde both made their way over to Thor as Tony picked himself up off the floor. 

"What's wrong, brother?" Loki asked, surprisingly gentle.

"Sergeant Barnes has gone missing. FRIDAY isn't able to locate him."

Ah, Barnes did a runner, did he? Why is he not surprised? 

"What happened?" Tony asked. 

"I told them that the BARF machine was finished but Barton didn't like that you were the one who made it and Steve said that Barnes is not doing it. Barnes said that he could make decisions for himself but Clint said that he's not responsible or stable enough to make choices for himself."

A whole toolbox got thrown across the room this time. How could they say that to someone who has spent most of their life brainwashed! Jesus Christ, he needed to find Barnes now.

"He can't have gone far."

"Actually boss," FRIDAY said, "I have no record of him leaving the grounds."

"The roof," Loki stated. 

Oh yeah. Tony had taken the cameras off the roof because it was Loki's go to place when he had had a nightmare or when he was angry or upset or just experiencing strong emotions in general to be honest. He went up there a lot and demanded to have privacy up there. Tony could understand so he had taken the cameras away. Tony sighed. Looked like Loki was going to have to share. That wasn't going to end well.

"Lets leave him up there for a bit. He probably wants to be left alone right now. FRIDAY, tell me if he comes down."

"Yes, boss."

Tony settled back down on the sofa. He hoped Barnes would be okay. He wasn't Barnes's number one fan right now but the guy didn't deserve what life had given him. Tony can relate to that. Ah shit! He had broken his toolbox when he had thrown it across the room. Great, the Rogues were affecting things even when they weren't in the room.

Tony couldn't wait for the team training tomorrow! The Government had asked that the Rogues get integrated into the new Avengers team. 

Tony wondered how Steve would do when he finds out he's not team captain anymore. Tony would make sure to ask FRIDAY to record that moment so that he had it forever.

Tony was proud of the team he had created. Due to Rhodey's legs, he couldn't get into the War Machine armour anymore.

Therefore, Rhodey became the bridge between the Avengers and the UN. When they needed to go somewhere, he would be the one to contact the UN.

Rhodey also oversees the kids training. They had decided to train the kids and the adults separately as most Avengers jobs were usually done by only one of these groups.

At the end of every month, both adults and kids would get together and train together for when they had to handle the big stuff, aka alien invasions.

On the kids' team there was Peter Parker, Riri Williams, Kamala Khan, Harley Keener and Donnie Gill.

Harley was the only one of them who didn't actually fight. He was the one who usually did the hacking and the overseeing of fights. He would hack into all available cameras in the area and alert the others over the comms where hostiles are. 

Peter had stayed by his side after Siberia and took superheroing incredibly seriously. Probably a bit too seriously. The friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man had been the one to convince him to let other kids join the Avengers.

Tony had found Riri when Rhodey had been out and about and noticed a suit that looked like Iron Man flying over the houses. At the time, Tony's armour had still been destroyed after Siberia so this was a shock to everyone. Tony managed to track down Riri and was so amazed by the work she had done that he didn't think twice about giving her a place on the Avengers.

Kamala was admitted into the Avengers after Doctor Strange told Tony that a strange mist had showed up, just outside of New York. Tony and Stephen had gone to investigate and had found Kamala surrounded by the Terrigen Mist. At first, he had no idea what that was but Stephen explained to him that the Mist basically activates dormant powers in a race called Inhumans. He was definitely intrigued after that revelation. 

Tony had decided to let Harley join as he had been pestering Tony for months. Harley had joined the Stark Internship. Since his family lives in Tennessee, he had given Harley a place to stay in the Compound.

Harley started to take over the jobs that he usually did for the Avengers such as creating new tech and fixing the tech and the Avengers suits when they got broken on missions. As Tony was running around Stark Industries, the Accords Council and the Government, Tony was grateful when he found that Harley was doing those things for him.

However, Harley admitted it was just a strategy to lull him into a false sense of security so that Harley could trick him into saying that he can be part of the Avengers. Tony ended up relenting. He couldn't say no to Harley for long. 

Donnie Gill was a bit harder to recruit then the others. Donnie had been training with SHIELD to use his ice powers. However, this was at the time when HYDRA was still around and had infiltrated SHIELD. HYDRA kidnapped Donnie and brainwashed him into thinking that SHIELD and heroes are the enemy.

He had been with them for years. It wasn't as effective as the Winter Soldier's brainwashing as the kids managed to convince him that HYDRA was manipulating him.

Donnie had then killed the people who had kidnapped him and manipulated him. After that, he didn't know what to do with his life.

Tony had taken him in and in the end had officially adopted him as HYDRA had killed Donnie's family as a way to manipulate him. Donnie was hesitant about joining the Avengers at first but after witnessing several team training sessions, he decided he didn't want to sit on the sidelines anymore and wanted to redeem himself. 

The adult team was a bit larger than the kids team, consisting of: Carol Danvers, Stephen Strange, Hope Van Dyne, Vision, Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner, Thor and Brunnhilde.

Carol Danvers had been the first adult Avenger to be recruited. That conversation had literally consisted of Carol saying that the Avengers were going to need a leader now that Captain America was a fugitive and offered to be that leader.

In hindsight, Tony probably should have done more research before he blindly accepted her onto the team but he had checked with the Government to find if she really was who she said she was. They had explained that she was a Colonel and had a lot of experience leading a team. Tony was glad that he had accepted her onto the team. Not only did she turn out to be an amazing leader but an amazing friend too. 

Meeting Stephen Strange had been an accident waiting to happen. He had walked past Stephen's lair so many times that it started to annoy him that he had no idea what was inside. 

So instead of knocking on the door and waiting for anyone to answer, he just went straight in. 

And promptly got stuck in the middle of the desert. He had no idea where he was, all he knew was that he had walked through this weird door and then suddenly he was in the fucking desert. 

Stephen had been dealing with dimension hopping assholes at the time so it was hours until he returned and realised that someone had used one of the doors. 

Stephen had brought him back to New York and the two of them promptly had a long argument about magic and the law. Tony left cursing Stephen's name and Stephen had done the same as he was leaving. So naturally they became best friends. 

It was a massive surprise when Hope turned up at the Compound apologising for Scott's role in the Civil War, saying that it was her and her father's fault that Scott even had the Ant-Man suit in the first place. 

Tony knew all about Howard and Hank's less than friendly feud so it was even more of a surprise when the man himself called Tony and apologised for the property damage Scott made, that Tony had had to pay for. 

Hope had told him that Hank had given her a new suit called the Wasp that has similar qualities to the Ant-Man suit. She wanted to use the suit for good and so asked if she could help the Avengers. Tony's choice to let her join was an easy one.

Jennifer Walters had also been a surprise addition. She was one of Tony's best lawyers and a good friend. He knew that she was Bruce's cousin but had no idea just how close they were. 

It seems that a few years ago Jennifer had been close to dying and needed a blood transfusion. Jennifer was the only family that Bruce had left so when he found this information out, he said that they could use his blood. 

He was aware of the risks but was too distraught about his cousin dying that he didn't care. Having Bruce's blood running through her veins means that a little bit of Hulk got mixed in there too. 

Jennifer found out that she had the ability to turn into a Hulk-like figure but could still keep her conscience. She hid her abilities for years though, even from Bruce himself before finally stepping forward and saying that she wants to help after seeing Tony's injuries (that are still healing) from Siberia.

As Vision, Bruce and Thor were already Avengers, they were happy to continue and help train the new members of the team. 

When Bruce, Thor, Loki and Brunnhilde had returned from Sakaar, they told the Avengers their story. It had fascinated everyone and motivated the kids to beg Valkyrie to become one of the Avengers too. She eventually relented but Tony was pretty sure she was going to join no matter what. 

The only problem was Loki. They weren't entirely sure what to do with him. 

His magic and fighting skills would be useful in a fight but the UN had said that they didn't want Loki anywhere near civilians. 

To be honest, they didn't want him on the planet but being babysat by the Avengers was better than him wandering around the planet by himself. 

Especially considering the violent outbursts. Thor had no idea why he had those outbursts, explaining that he had never been like that before. 

Tony had a theory that it was something to do with being back on Earth and the bad memories that came with that. 

Either way, he couldn't fight with the Avengers. 

Which he seemed totally fine with. He had mentioned once that he still didn't trust the Avengers to which Thor retaliated saying he doesn't trust anyone. Which was probably true.

Even though he wasn't part of the team, on a good day he would come to watch the others train, usually the kids, and would give them tips on how to be better. It was welcomed and useful information when it happened. 

Tony had once heard Kamala say that she hoped that Loki could have a good day every day.

Tony sighed and looked up at the clock at the wall. An hour had passed.

"FRIDAY, where are the Rogues now?"

"They are in their rooms, boss."

"Good."

Tony got up and dragged Thor, Loki and Brunnhilde with him to get dinner. 

After twenty minutes, Bruce, Donnie and Harley joined them in the kitchen. 

Tony noticed that Thor kept glancing at the clock and the door. Tony got up and put the leftovers of their dinner on a plate and passed it over to Thor. 

"Give him this and tell him he can come see me in my lab any time he wants."

Thor nodded and left the room, leaving Tony to explain what happened with Bucky to Bruce, Donnie and Harley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the backstories I have changed up a bit or made up but it shouldn't be too much. I hope that's alright.


	3. Chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long. Hopefully this chapter will make up for that. I have also finished the next chapter, it just needs to be edited so it should be up, at the latest, tomorrow.
> 
> Remember, any speech outlined with *** is the Soldier speaking inside Bucky's head.

Bucky turned to look at Thor. They had been sitting on the roof together for an hour or so in silence. Bucky noticed the faraway look in Thor's eyes. He didn't want to interrupt whatever memory Thor was thinking about but it was starting to get cold. 

"Thor? Would it be okay if we went... you know... back inside?"

Thor smiled and got to his feet. He held out a hand to help Bucky up to his feet and then started to walk towards the door.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were getting cold."

"Neither did I, for a long time."

Bucky paused.

"Thank you."

"What for?" Thor asked, turning to look at him.

"Coming to find me, bringing me food, not saying anything..."

Thor smiled again and put an arm around Bucky's shoulders.

"It was my pleasure. Oh, I almost forgot to say. Tony told me to tell you that you are welcome to go and find him at any time. If you want to go through with using the strange device to help you get better, then it is your choice and you can decide."

"Oh well... I would like to talk to him about what will actually happen during the procedure."

"Would you like to speak with him now?"

"Won't he be asleep? It is, like, the middle of the night."

To his surprise, Thor started chuckling. 

"It's never too late for Tony to be in his lab."

"Okay then."

It took the two of them a couple of minutes to get to the workshop. When they got there, FRIDAY opened the door for them. 

***"Calm down. It's just a workshop. It'll be nothing like the labs that Hydra used."***

Bucky took a deep breath and looked around the workshop. His anxiety was instantly swept away by how amazing and futuristic everything looked. 

Tony was busy with something over in the corner and had yet to notice them. 

Bucky heard a noise and saw that a man, with black hair that was just a bit longer than Bucky's, was asleep on the sofa. When Thor spotted him, he sighed. 

"Tony, did you not give my brother a room to sleep in?" He could tell that Thor was joking but there was an underlying sadness hidden in the words.

"Of course I did! What do you take me for? It's not my fault he falls asleep on my furniture."

Bucky's eyes followed Tony as he put down whatever tool was in his hand and made his way over to the two of them. Tony spared a glance towards the sleeping man before ignoring him completely.

"Hey Barnes. FRIDAY told me you were on your way. Come over here."

Bucky and Thor followed Tony as he picked up a pair of glasses. He then proceeded to sit on the sleeping man's stomach. Bucky was amazed when the man didn't even move, let alone wake up. 

Thor chuckled and shook his head before sitting down on a nearby countertop.

"So," Tony started, holding out the glasses, "this is the BARF. Admittedly, not my best name for something. It stands for binarily augmented retro framing. Basically, it hacks into the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that processes memories, and helps to clear traumatic memories. It probably won't help with the triggers; we'll have to find a specialist for that. But it will help with the guilt."

Bucky just stood there. Why was Tony helping him? Or just being nice to him?

***"I hope he continues to help. HYDRA labelled him as a threat."***

"I'm sure they did."

He wanted to roll his eyes but remembered that there were other people in the room. Who were currently waiting for him to say something. 

"Thank you but why would you want to help me?"

Tony and Thor shared a glance. Tony then sighed and looked at him.

"The truth? I know it's not your fault. Even though it was your hands, you still couldn't help that. I know what it's like to be blamed for something that you can't help or wasn't your fault. I took my anger out on you in Siberia. I shouldn't have done that. I wasn't even angry at you. I was angry at Steve. I didn't even know you when we fought. I can't make assumptions based on the couple of times we fought so I'm going to help you and play nice. Even though I've been told I'm not very good at that."

Tony rolled his eyes as Thor laughed. His laughter accidentally woke up his brother on the sofa. The man opened his eyes tiredly and then frowned as he realised who was sitting on him.

"So, do you agree to those terms?" Tony said, with a grin on his face.

Bucky nodded.

"Good."

***"I like him. He would be a good ally."***

"I suggest we don't start today. We've all had a rough day today and Norse Gods seem to be making a habit of sleeping on my sofa..."

Tony was unceremoniously pushed off the sofa and landed on the floor with a loud thump.

"Fuck you, Reindeer Games. You were very comfortable."

"Unfortunately you weren't," Loki replied with a smirk on his face.

Tony got to his feet huffing and cursing Loki. Loki just smiled and closed his eyes again.

Tony threw a screwdriver at Loki and then walked over to Bucky.

"I'll walk you back to your room. Don't want you to get lost."

Tony and Bucky were just getting ready to leave when there was a screech behind them. They turned and saw that Thor had lifted Loki up into his arms and was carrying him over to the door. 

Loki was glaring and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "I'm going to kill you all in your sleep". Bucky could see Loki's exhaustion though and watched as Loki finally relented and snuggled into his brother's arms. 

He heard Tony sigh. When he turned to Tony, Bucky could see the fond expression on the man's face. Tony nodded to the door and they followed Thor and Loki out.

They walked in silence for a while but Bucky didn't mind. He hadn't seen much of the Compound when he had first arrived so he was fascinated by everything. 

Even though, the Soldier had lived through the changes of society, Bucky himself was still stuck back in the forties. He could see Tony watching him out of the corner of his eye but didn't say anything.

Bucky suddenly froze as he heard footsteps approaching. Logically, it was just someone who lived in the tower but he couldn't hide the Soldier's response in time.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked.

"Tony?"

Bucky and Tony turned around and saw a young boy walking towards them. Bucky started to relax but the Soldier was still on alert which puzzled him.

***"He was with HYDRA."***

"Hey, kid. You okay?" Tony asked.

Bucky wasn't sure what to do. Did Tony know who this boy was? 

He had just promised to be friendly towards Tony and didn't want to break that by attacking the kid like the Soldier wanted to do but what else was he supposed to do. 

The Soldier provided him with a profile of the kid in a second. Donald Gill. Trained by SHIELD. Kidnapped by HYDRA. Brainwashed. Bucky shuddered as an image of the Chair came into his mind. 

***"Don't think about that. Focus!"***

Tony had walked over to the child by now. He looked about sixteen years old. Bucky only just noticed that the boy was shaking and that his eyes were red as though he had been crying.

"Hey, Donnie. It's alright. We'll talk in a bit okay. I'm just going to take Barnes back to his room. Do you want to come with us?"

Donnie nodded and then seemed to notice Bucky. The boy stopped and looked him up and down. Bucky saw the moment of recognition. 

The Soldier was asking for control. At least he was asking this time and not just trying to force him to give over the control. Bucky pushed him away but didn't lock him away. The Soldier could make his life hell.

"I remember you," Donnie said. "The Winter Soldier."

The Soldier stopped asking for control and was just listening now. It was strangely quiet inside his head.

Tony looked between the two of them.

"So should we go?" He said, trying to diffuse the tension. Tony started to walk away. After a moment, Bucky and Donnie followed.

Both Bucky and Donnie were sending glances at each other, unsure of what to do. Tony looked between them and then sighed.

"Okay, are we going to resolve this or what? You two obviously know each other."

"We were at HYDRA together," Donnie explained. "I remember seeing you."

"So do I," Bucky replied. "I'm sorry about what they did to you."

Donnie shrugged. "It's not your fault. You suffered the same thing I did."

"That still doesn't make it okay." 

"No. But it's over now. Tony looks after me better than they ever did. Way better."

Bucky looked up at Tony, who was watching him closely. It only took a glance for Bucky and the Soldier to know exactly how much Tony cares for the kid.

Bucky looked back down at Donnie and smiled.

"So, we good?"

Donnie nodded and smiled back. Both of them looked back at Tony and followed as he walked down the hall. 

The rest of the way was in silence, except for Bucky's conversation with the Soldier.

***"I'm still not sure we should trust him."***

"He's just a kid and it looks like he's been here a while if he trusts Tony this much. Not even mentioning the others that live here. I think he's fine. He's suffering like we are don't forget."

***"I'm still going to keep an eye on him but I trust you."***

"I appreciate it."

Tony stopped outside Bucky's bedroom door.

"Here we go. Think you'll be able to find your way back to the lab?"

"Pretty sure I can."

Bucky entered his bedroom and went to shut the door, He hesitated and turned back to look at Tony and Donnie.

"Thank you for your help Tony. See you around kid."

Bucky shut the door and laid down on his bed. The last thing he heard was Donnie saying "I think I like him."


	4. Chapter four

Tony flopped down onto the sofa in the workshop, laying himself all over Loki in the process.

"Why do you have to do that?"

"Because you're comfortable."

At Loki's snort, Tony said "you love it really."

Loki didn't deny it so Tony called that a win.

"So today you're doing that team training thing?" Loki asked.

Tony sighed.

"Yeah. Everyone will be arriving in about an hour." He sighed again and rubbed a hand over his face. "This is going to go so badly."

"You don't know that," Loki replied, as he affectionately ran a hand through Tony's hair.

"Yes, I do. Because Rogers and his group will be there. They hate us. We hate them. Thor also told me that they were disgusted that I allowed kids on the team. And by Harley's behaviour. But then again, I'm pretty disgusted by Harley's behaviour sometimes."

Loki chuckled. "I'm sure you can get out of it if you want to."

"Yeah but I can't abandon the others. I could leave Rhodey and Carol in charge but those are my kids and I don't trust the Rogues with them. I don't trust them not to start on the Rogues. Shame you won't be there. You would have made it more interesting."

"I would take focus away from the training. And it's a good idea that the Rogues don't know I'm here for as long as possible. That way there won't be any unnecessary arguments."

"I know. I feel bad though that you'll be by yourself while we're all training."

"I don't mind. Besides, I already have plans on how to spend that time."

At Loki's mischievous smirk, Tony rolled his eyes. 

"I can't wait to see the outcome."

"Neither can I."

They both stopped talking when they heard the door opening.

"Hey Donnie," Tony said, turning his head to look at the boy.

Tony frowned when he saw Donnie looking nervous and sad.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked.

"I was thinking that maybe I should stay down here with Loki."

Both men frowned.

"Why?" Loki asked.

"Because the Winter Soldier recognised me and I only ever saw him once. I never even spoke to him. Rogers, Romanoff and Barton were all working at SHIELD while I was there both as a SHIELD agent and a HYDRA agent so it's likely that they know what happened to me. If the Winter Soldier can recognise me with just a glance, then at least Romanoff will as well. I don't want them accusing me of being evil or HYDRA or anything."

The logic was flawless which made it even harder for Tony to make a decision.

Donnie shouldn't have to hide in his own house. The poor kid had lived his life in confusion, anger and fear. Now he finally had stability and the Rogues were going to take that away from him. Of course they were.

"If that's what you want," Tony agreed.

Donnie nodded.

"Boss, Doctor Strange has just arrived."

Tony got off of the sofa in the most irritating way for Loki imaginable. 

"I better go then. I'll see you two later."

He gave Donnie a hug.

"Don't hesitate to ask FRIDAY to get me down here okay? You need me, I'll come. No matter what anyone says."

"Thank you."

He smiled and ruffled Donnie's hair. Then he turned to Loki.

"I'm trusting you, you hear? No leading my son astray."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Loki said with an innocent expression that Tony knew was too good to be true. 

He smiled anyway and left them to it.

A sense of dread grew as he made his way through the Compound. He knew he wouldn't be meeting the Rogues for another hour but he was still apprehensive. He smiled when he saw Stephen though.

"Hey Stevie, early as always."

Stephen grimaced at the nickname but soon smiled back at Tony.

"It's better than being late."

"Yes, but there is a thing called being too early."

Stephen rolled his eyes and started walking towards the gym.

"So, should I be worried about this team training thing today?"

"Probably. Loki and Donnie won't be joining us and I have a feeling that Barnes will choose to stay on the sidelines."

"Hope texted me before I left," Stephen said. "She won't be coming either. Something about talking to the police about a company break-in."

"Oh yeah. I remember her telling me that. But she could just get someone else to deal with that so, in other words, she isn't ready to see Scott yet."

"Yes, I think that would be the reason," Stephen agreed.

Tony sighed. The Rogues getting that pardon was more trouble than it was worth.

Tony and Stephen entered the gym together and was greeted with the sight of Brunnhilde throwing Thor across the room.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

"Hey," Tony replied. "You're losing your touch, Point Break."

Thor glared at him and got to his feet.

Bruce and Harley were on the other side of the room talking, probably about some science thing. Normally Tony would be interested but he was too shaky and had his mind on other things.

He hadn't realised Peter was in the room until the boy swung past him, scaring the shit out of him.

Tony turned as Riri and Kamala entered the room, talking animatedly together about a TV show. 

Now that all the kids who were going to be at the training that day were there, he brought them all together.

"So guys, I'm afraid that Donnie won't be joining the training today. He doesn't feel safe with the Rogues considering his history. He's a bit paranoid, thinking that they are going to recognise him."

There were sad looks on Peter and Kamala's faces and anger on Harley and Riri's.

"But," Tony said, capturing their attention, "as you are all here early and I'm not entirely sure whether we will actually get around to doing anything when the Rogues get here, I think you guys should do some training now. Just the four of you. I don't want you to lose out on your time because of them."

"But we can't do our training without Donnie," Kamala argued.

"You guys are going to have to learn how to function in a group without one of your members. What happens if you have to go on a mission and one of you is ill and can't go?"

The kids didn't like it but they grudgingly agreed. Tony set up the training centre.

Vision joined them just as the kids entered. He, Stephen, Thor, Brunnhilde and Bruce decided to train too while they waited for Carol and Jennifer.

Tony had three separate training centres set up that he created for the Avengers. 

The kids one was slightly smaller than the adult and mixed training centres but it was still massive. 

Tony had created robots that would act as the enemies and holograms would change what everything looked like to make it seem like the group was somewhere else. 

Tony watched on the outskirts, as he normally would, as both teams started to fight. Tony controlled the simulation with a panel outside the rooms. He could change the difficulty with ease but only did when he knew the participants were ready for it.

Tony smiled at Jennifer, Rhodey and Carol as they walked in together. Jennifer and Carol went straight for the adult simulation and entered. Carol got into her leadership role straight away. Rhodey stayed outside with Tony.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked.

"Ask me that when they get here."

Rhodey chuckled. "You don't have to stay. Carol and I are the respective leaders of the adults and the kids. We can handle this. I know you want to watch over everything and make sure everything goes okay but if things turn rough inside that big head of yours, no one will hold it against you if you leave."

"The Rogues will."

Rhodey was about to reply when the door to the gym opened. Tony started to panic but he calmed down when he saw that it was just Bucky.

"Hey Bucky."

"Hi."

Rhodey raised his eyebrows at Tony who just glared back. Rhodey sighed and entered the kids training centre.

Bucky joined him by the observation windows. He watched with interest as the two teams fought against the robots. 

"You made these places?" Bucky asked.

Tony smiled. "Yep."

"Impressive. And so are they." Bucky pointed to the kids.

Tony chuckled. "Yeah. You don't want to see them when they're angry. They're even scarier then the Hulk."

Tony noticed that Bucky was frowning as he spoke.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked, wondering what he had said wrong.

"Where's Donnie?"

Tony sighed. "He won't be joining us today. Neither will Loki."

Tony noticed that Bucky actually looked a bit upset at that. There was no doubt that Bucky knew why the two of them wouldn't be joining them.

"Don't worry about it, they'll have fun while we're all down here."

Bucky looked at him suspiciously but Tony ignored him. He would just have to wait for the fallout of whatever Loki and Donnie decided to do. They all would.

Tony jumped as the door opened again. He didn't need to turn around to know who was coming in. 

Tony braced himself for the inevitable conversation about why kids were Avengers but he would avoid that conversation for as long as possible. 

He shut down the simulations and caught Carol and Rhodey's eyes. They started to gather their groups together. Tony turned around to face the Rogues.

"Tony, do you know how irresponsible you are being?" Steve asked.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Tony responded, shrugging.

"You know exactly what we are talking about!" Wanda said, infuriated. "You're letting little kids fight!"

"Aren't you a kid though? I mean, that was Steve's defence when I told him why I kept you at the Compound. Are you saying he's wrong?"

"Stop being petty, Stark," Clint said, rolling his eyes.

"How is stating the truth petty?"

Before any of them could answer, the doors to the training centres opened and the Avengers walked out.

All four of the kids, including Rhodey, straight up glared at the Rogues. The other adults were more conspicuous about their feelings.

Carol kept her leader face on but Tony could see the hate hidden behind the mask. 

Bruce looked calm except for his slightly shaking hands and bright green eyes. Tony knew it wasn't an after effect of changing back into being himself as he usually calmed straight away due to his friendlier relationship with the Hulk.

Jennifer had a hand on Bruce's shoulder, seeing that anger hidden under the surface too. Jennifer herself seemed more concerned and worried about what was going to happen than angry. 

Brunnhilde was smirking at Clint, obviously remembering what happened the last time they were in a room together. 

Thor and Stephen were the most calm, out of everyone. Thor was batting away the Cloak of Levitation that kept reaching out to him and trying to tickle him whereas Stephen just looked tremendously bored.

"So, are we doing this then?" Stephen asked.

"Yes, we are," Carol answered. "If you will please follow me," she said to the Rogues.

Tony praised the Lord when they followed without comment. However, he did get a couple of nasty glares.

When they had all disappeared into the training centre built for mixed group training sessions, Tony turned to Bucky, who hadn't followed.

"You going to watch from the sidelines? You won't be alone."

"If that's okay? I just don't feel like it."

"You don't need to make a case for me Bucky. I believe you, okay."

Bucky smiled and then walked over to the observation window.

"You want to stay out here for now? I have a feeling there is going to be some mixed feelings that come from this training session so I'm going to go in."

"No, it's okay. I'll come with you."

They entered the training centre together. Carol was giving them a speech about how they were going to have to work together, no matter what. Some people didn't like this.

"Who the hell are you? What makes you think you can tell us what to do?" Wanda asked, glaring at Carol.

"I am Captain Marvel, the leader of this team along with Colonel Rhodes."

Tony ignored whatever comeback Wanda had and entertained himself with watching the Cloak land on Thor's shoulders. Thor looked immensely pleased with himself while Stephen glared at the Cloak.

"How dare you let someone else wear you."

Tony spluttered with laughter and he could hear Bucky doing the same, as well as the kids.

"Excuse me!"

They all realised that Carol was glaring at them now.

"It was the Cloak's fault!" Thor explained.

Carol glared at him but Tony could see the amusement on her face. Carol's eyes shifted to Tony. He winked and grinned at her. She turned back to the others with an eye roll.

Tony smiled at Thor, who gave him a cheeky grin back. Tony high-fived the Cloak and flipped Stephen off when he heard the man sigh.

"I'm sorry but I have a problem," Tony heard Clint say. Tony sighed and braced himself for the argument that was incoming. He could already feel the headache coming.

"What's the problem, Mr Barton?" Carol asked.

"I don't think kids should be on the team."

Tony and Peter both sighed while Riri rolled her eyes. He felt anger rise up when he saw that Kamala was upset by what Clint had said. Harley was completely ignoring all of them and was setting up his equipment in the corner. 

Tony had to give credit to the adults, who were staying silent but sending a death glare towards the Rogues, especially when Steve seconded Clint's statement. 

Props to Thor though who distracted all the kids by stealing Bucky's Rubik's Cube from his pocket and solving it within seconds. 

Tony couldn't help but give out a laugh at that and think that Loki would have been proud of his brother's behaviour. 

Thor's attempt at cheering the kids up worked and they gathered around him to time how fast they could all complete it.

Tony had a fleeting thought, worrying about how Bucky feels about this but he could see that Bucky was trying desperately to keep a straight face and focus on the conversation with the Rogues.

"I'm sorry Mr Barton but it is not your choice to make," Carol said. "All the kids have signed the Accords and their guardians have given consent for us to train them. They were also already fighting crime before we found them and took them in. Would you prefer that they be out there fighting with no training whatsoever?"

"They shouldn't be fighting at all whether they have powers or not," Sam said. "You should be discouraging them from fighting at this age."

"It is a closed matter Mr Wilson. We have already made the decision to train them."

Carol turned around to signal the conversation over. Steve and Clint both tried to protest but Carol just walked over to Tony, Rhodey joining them.

"This is going to be a long day," Rhodey muttered.

"I'm thinking of just doing an adult team exercise to start off with and integrating the kids in later. I was going to do it the other way around but that's obviously not going to fly."

Tony chuckled and nodded. "That's good. I'll take the kids to watch the show from the observation room."

"Thank you."

Carol left to get the adults into shape. She had to practically drag Thor away from the kids and Tony had to wrestle him for the Rubik's Cube. 

Tony left for the observation room with the kids, Rhodey and Bucky in tow. He could see that Steve had an objection to Bucky going with them but Tony just shut the door in his face.

"I can't believe that's Cooper's dad!" Riri said, angrily. "Cooper's not like that at all."

"He gets it from his mum," Tony replied.

Speaking of Laura and Cooper, it was going to be so awkward when the Barton's came over. 

Laura had planned to bring the kids over a couple of days after the Rogues arrived so that they could have time to settle down. 

Tony knew the real reason was because she didn't want to see Clint but Tony didn't have the heart to call her out on it. However, she did tell Tony that she would be worried about the kids when they see him.

During the past six months, Tony had been checking up on the Barton's, as well as the Lang's, to make sure they were safe and had everything they needed.

Laura, Maggie and Jim had all appreciated the help and Tony had now become 'Uncle Tony' to Lila, Nate and Cassie. Nate was a happy two-year-old who got confused on whether Tony was his father sometimes. There was always uncontrollable rage and love at those moments. 

Lila and Cassie understood what was happening but were naïve enough to think that their fathers were still heroes and would return for them. Tony always encouraged this because who knows? Maybe it would happen again one day.

All of them, including Maggie and Jim, were worried about Cooper. The boy was only thirteen years old but held a deeper and more dangerous rage than Tony did. 

Cooper had never expressed it but it was only a matter of time before he lashed out and hurt either himself or someone else. They could all see it building below the surface and tried their best to prolong the inevitable explosion.

Even though there was a bomb inside him, Cooper acted as he normally did. He was friendly with the other kids, he cuddled his sister when she was upset, he played with Nate. But there was a look he got in his eyes when he thought he was alone that scared Tony. 

He felt protective over this kid; all of the kids really. He wasn't sure what he would do if one of them got hurt, especially by someone they trusted. It hit too close to home.

"Are you okay?"

Tony jumped and saw Bucky standing next to him, watching him.

"Yeah, sorry. Just checked out for a minute there. Don't worry."

It was clear from the look on his face that Bucky was a bit worried but he didn't say anything more.

Everyone in the room jumped as the door opened. Tony smiled when he saw Donnie poke his head round the door.

"Donnie!" Kamala cried, running to the boy and giving him a hug.

"Hey," Donnie greeted, smiling. "FRIDAY told me you guys aren't training yet so I thought I would come and watch."

"Sure thing, kid," Tony said, beckoning him to come in.

Donnie seemed to relax and went to sit between Kamala and Peter. Tony looked towards the door and frowned.

"Don, where's Loki?"

"I'm here."

Loki entered the room, looking a bit guilty.

"What did you do?" Tony asked, rolling his eyes.

Donnie started laughing.

Loki sent him a death glare as he said, "nothing."

Tony just shrugged. He would worry about it later. For now, there were more important things to worry about.

Carol gave him a signal and Tony started up the simulation.

Stephen had somehow managed to get his Cloak back from Thor and was making orange sparks fly from his fingers. Brunnhilde was swinging her sword with a confident look on her face. Carol was standing with her hands on her hips. The Hulk was flicking Thor's head and laughing. Tony's heart broke when he saw Vision doing his best to avoid Wanda.

The Rogues had huddled into their own group. Tony could see that Cap was talking. Tony really hoped that they were going to do what Carol said and wouldn't rebel. Having a pissed off Carol on your tail is not a fun experience.

Tony could hear Rhodey quietly talking to the kids and smiled. They were all listening with rapt attention. If only the Rogues could be like the kids.

Tony turned around as he heard a chuckle. He saw Loki smiling at his brother who was starting his own fight with Hulk. Tony didn't envy Carol at all.

"I like Thor," they heard Bucky say.

"He's a pretty likeable guy," Tony said.

Tony frowned as Bucky went completely still. He looked up as though he was listening to something. He was like that for at least thirty seconds. 

Tony shared a worried look with Loki. He was about to try and snap Bucky out of it when he snapped himself out of it.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

Bucky froze again. A scared look overcame his face. His eyes switched between Tony and Loki before running out of the room.

Tony looked back at the simulation and saw that Carol was already having troubles and was signalling for him to stop the simulation.

"I can go after him," Loki suggested.

Tony took a deep breath.

"Thanks."

Loki nodded and then followed Bucky out of the door.


	5. Chapter five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to warn you guys, there are a couple of small panic attacks in this chapter so be careful if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.

Bucky sat down in the same place on the roof that he had ran away to before. He knew he was breathing too fast but he was too busy panicking to even think about calming himself down.

He had talked to the Soldier in front of other people before. What was different this time? Why did they even notice that something was different? Was the Soldier getting more powerful?

***"Calm down! I'm not getting stronger. Even if I was, I know the danger of someone finding out about me. I wouldn't jeopardise your safety. You know that. You need to breathe."***

He couldn't. He was starting to black out from the lack of oxygen. Which made him panic more. What if one of the people here wanted to kill him and found him in this vulnerable position? What if one of them knew his trigger words? Bucky didn't want to hurt people again.

He stiffened as he heard the roof door open. Some part of him hoped that it would be Thor. For some reason, he felt safe with him. But Bucky knew that it couldn't be true. Thor was training with the others. He was probably hearing things again.

He started shaking with fear as someone crouched down beside him. The person was talking to him but he couldn't make out the words. He sighed with relief when the person disappeared from his side.

***

Loki backed away from Bucky. He didn't know what was happening. He didn't know how to comfort someone when they were like this. He knew someone that would though.

He exited the roof and said quickly, with a panicked voice, "FRIDAY, I need Tony's help. Now!"

"He's on his way."

Loki focused on his breathing. Tony would know what to do. He always had a solution. Loki felt guilty for leaving Bucky alone but the panic attack, or whatever was happening to him, reminded Loki too much of what happened to himself. The fear, the panic. He didn't want to think about it.

Loki almost started crying when he saw Tony and Thor approaching.

"Brother?" Thor asked, worrying. Loki just pointed towards the roof door.

"I got this," Tony said. "You go."

Thor nodded, smiled at Loki and then entered onto the roof.

Tony slowly approached Loki as though he was a wild animal. Loki couldn't get angry with him though. He just wanted someone to help Bucky.

"Hey," Tony whispered as he put his hands on Loki's shoulders.

Loki leant forward and put his head on Tony's shoulder. Tony put his arms around him and just held him. He was patient as he waited for Loki to calm his breathing and his heart. He was grateful that Tony didn't say anything. For the first time in his life.

Loki lifted his head and smiled slightly at Tony.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"It's fine. Let's go see how Thunderbird and Jack Frost are doing."

Loki nodded, smiling at the nicknames.

***

Thor hated leaving his brother behind when he was like that but he knew Bucky needed him more. He could hear Bucky's laboured breathing as soon as he entered the roof. He slowly approached and sat down next to Bucky. Thor saw that Bucky started shaking as soon as he got close. He took a deep breath and reached across. Instead of touching Bucky, he picked up the Rubik's Cube, that had dropped out of Bucky's pocket. He busied himself with it for a bit. He didn't talk. Bucky didn't need that, just like he didn't need it last time.

After a while, he heard Bucky's breathing start to calm down and slow. Thor smiled when he saw Bucky turn to watch him play with the Cube. They stayed like that, silent, for a few minutes before the door opened again.

He could see Bucky getting tenser as they heard footsteps. Thor just ignored them as he knew who was coming towards them.

Tony sat down on Bucky's other side and stared out across the Compound grounds. Loki sat down next to Thor and was staring at his lap. Thor put a hand on his brother's arm; Loki looked up at him.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

Loki nodded but Thor could see the pain hidden behind his eyes. His brother surprised him by leaning his head on his shoulder and taking comfort in Thor's presence. Thor smiled and turned his head to look at Tony and Bucky.

Bucky had calmed down again once he knew that the people who had joined them were not a threat to him.

"You're getting good with that," Tony said, pointing to the Cube. 

Thor glowed with pride. It was strange how quickly he had taken to this strange cube. 

"I can still do it quicker than he can though," Bucky murmured. 

Thor let out a soft laugh. 

"I will get faster with time. Then you will struggle to beat me." 

Bucky chuckled and playfully snatched the Cube off of him. 

"We'll see about that." 

"So, you guys okay? Because I should really get back to the training," Tony said. "Carol's going to kill me and Riri's going to kill Clint so..." 

"It's fine," Thor said. 

"Good, I'll see you guys later." 

***

Tony left the roof with a deep breath. Holy shit! What the hell happened? Why had Bucky acted like that?

Truthfully, what just happened to Bucky and Loki freaked him out. It also hit a bit too close to home for his liking. 

He was intrigued with why Bucky had freaked out though. Surely, it couldn't be because he was the centre of attention. Although, Bucky had spent most of his life in the shadows, never being seen, so it's not so far of a stretch. 

Tony was surprised to find that he was actually worried. This was the man that had murdered Tony's parents but here he was actually caring for the guy. Jesus! He was going crazy! 

He made his way back to the gym as slowly as he could without actually stopping. 

He pulled a face at the kids as he passed them, making them laugh. He exchanged a knowing look with Rhodey before he entered the mixed training centre. He cringed when he realised that he had interrupted Carol while she was talking. He gave her a sheepish grin before waving her over. 

She threw him a playful glare but joined him over by the door. 

"I imagine that everything is going better upstairs than it is in here," Carol told him. "Everything okay?" 

"Not sure. I'll tell you what happened later. Thor won't be joining again so we should continue without him." 

Carol nodded and went to go back over to the rest of the adults. 

"Oh wait!" Tony stopped her. "Whatever you do, don't mention that it's Barnes who freaked out." 

"Who do you think I am, Stark? Of course I'm not stupid enough to do that!" 

Tony grinned at her. He looked over Carol's shoulder and locked eyes with Stephen. Somehow, with just a glance, they had conveyed an entire conversation between them. Stephen nodded as he turned to Hulk. Tony knew that he was telling Hulk that Thor wouldn't be coming back as Hulk looked down at the floor and pouted like a child who had just had their favourite toy taken away. Tony couldn't keep away a smile at the imagery. He was snapped back to reality when Carol spoke. 

"Would you like to join us?" 

Tony froze. "Wait, what?" 

"You've finally finished doing repairs on the Iron Man suit, right? Don't you want to test it out?" 

Tony shivered as he thought about his suit. It had been dragged back from Siberia with him, along with Steve's shield and Bucky's arm, but no matter how many pep talks he had given himself, he just couldn't face it. And he hated that.

He loved the Iron Man suit. Loved the way it made him feel but he couldn't escape the utter panic that came to him whenever he thought about it. He didn't want to see the mess that the shield had made of it. Therefore, as soon as he arrived back at the Compound after Siberia, he had asked Vision to hide it away. He couldn't look at it.

And he didn't until Bruce and Thor came back. Strangely enough, it was actually Loki who asked where it was. Tony had had a panic attack right then, with Steve's shield hitting the suit ringing in his ears. Loki had shut up after that point and avoided him for a couple of days after. Bruce, Thor and Brunnhilde were there when it happened so he couldn't keep it a secret from them.

After that moment, the idea of fixing the suit had been stuck in his mind but he hadn't done anything about it until a month ago. He had asked Harley and Bruce to be there with him when he faced it for the first time and to help him fix it as he didn't know whether he would be able to take doing it by himself.

True to form, he had had a panic attack as soon as he saw the thing but Harley and Bruce were both kind and gentle and took over when he needed them to.

The three of them, with a little help from Peter and Riri at times, had finished the suit a couple of days before the Rogues came back. He hadn't tried flying it yet. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

But now that Carol was asking, he was sure he didn't want to. He glanced over at the Rogues, most of whom were glaring over at him, with the exception of Scott. He almost laughed when he saw Scott showing off his abilities to Hulk, who was watching with fascination. The view juxtaposed everything that was going on around him. Then again, from what he had heard from Hope, Scott seemed the embodiment of juxtaposition. Always acting the opposite of everyone else. He seemed like a pretty crazy guy. But crazy in a good way. If things hadn't turned out the way they did, he was pretty sure that him and Scott would have been good friends. But that's not the way it turned out.

Tony had to turn away from the intensity of the Rogues glares. He couldn't take being in this room anymore.

"Not now," he told Carol, before turning around and leaving without a backward glance.

He closed the door behind him and then leant against it. He closed his eyes and just breathed. Tried desperately to think about something else. Anything else. As long as it wasn't the suit. Or the Rogues. Or Siberia. Or Ultron. Or the Chitauri. Or Afghanistan. Or-

"Hey, Mr Mechanic," a soft voice said as a hand found its way into Tony's. 

"Hey kid."

"Everything okay?" Harley asked.

"Always."

"Right, now say it again but make it sound more believable."

Tony let out a small chuckle and opened his eyes. He took his hand out of Harley's and ruffled his hair. Using the hand that was in Harley's hair, he pulled the boy closer to him. Harley met him half way and wound his arms around Tony's waist.

Tony gave himself a minute to push away the unwanted thoughts in his head and get the courage to leave his place against the door and face the world. Thankfully Harley was there to help him through.

***

Tony collapsed on the sofa in his lab and sighed. Today was a painful day. Even more painful than Siberia. He felt emotionally drained and if he could turn his mind off, he would be asleep.

He smiled when Loki collapsed next to him.

"You would have been proud of your brother today."

"I'm always proud of my brother."

"Shut up."

Loki turned to face him. "What did he do?"

"FRIDAY?"

FRIDAY pulled up a hologram that replayed footage from before the training. By the time Tony was wrestling Thor to get the Rubik's Cube back from him, they were both uncontrollably giggling.

"You're right. I am proud."

Of course it was that moment that Thor walked in.

"Who are you proud of?"

Tony could see the hidden hopeful expression on Thor's face which turned into glee when Loki said, "you."

"Why?" 

"Your behaviour today, brother, is one I approve of."

Thor chuckled. He pulled the Rubik's Cube out of his pocket and solved it in five seconds.

"I really need to get you your own one of those," Tony said. "FRIDAY, put it on my to-do list."

"Yes, Boss."

Loki was watching Thor solve the Cube with interest. 

"I'm surprised, Thor. I didn't know you had the brains to do something like that."

Thor laughed. "Yes, you did. You just like to forget it so it makes you look like the cleverest."

"It's the younger sibling syndrome," Tony butted in.

Loki elbowed him in the stomach and smirked when he cried out in pain.

"So," Tony said, "is Barnes okay?"

Thor nodded but didn't say anything else, getting lost in thought. Tony gave him his space. He didn't give Loki space though.

"Why must you do this?" he cried, throwing his arms up in the air. Tony just stretched as he lay his head in Loki's lap.

"I'm tired. Leave me alone."

Loki sighed but didn't say anything. Tony closed his eyes and smiled as he felt the sofa dip as Thor sat down on the edge. Tony linked his finger's with Thor's as he relaxed. Thor leaned back so that his body was resting lightly over Tony's, with his head against the back of the sofa.

Tony felt so safe and comfortable with the two brothers that his mind finally started to slow down. 

He was just starting to drift off to sleep when his phone rang.

He groaned. "Fuck whoever that is!"

Both Thor and Loki laughed but didn't move. Tony shifted his body at an uncomfortable angle in order to get his phone out of his pocket. He finally pulled it out, put his middle finger right in Thor's face when the bastard refused to stop laughing at his suffering and answered it.

"Hello, Tony Stark is not in right now. Please leave a message."

"Tony, don't pull that bullshit with me."

"Maggie! How nice to hear from you! Did we have an appointment I missed?"

"Shut up, you asshole!" Maggie Lang replied, laughing. "I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow."

Shit! He forgot that Maggie, Jim and Cassie were coming to the Compound. Tony sighed.

"Are you in the middle of something? Should I call back?"

"No. I was just thinking about how lovely everything is going so far and how equally lovely everything is going to go tomorrow."

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you are worried about what Barton is going to say about Laura and the kids not being there tomorrow so maybe you should hide the fact that we're there from them."

"I don't know whether I'll be able to. You don't understand. The Rogues are stuck to each other like fungus. There is no way we're going to be able to get Scott away from the rest of them without them finding out that you are here."

Maggie seemed to think over that for a few moments.

"What if you don't tell him that it's us. Tell them that it's Hope who has come to see him. Therefore, there will be no reason for any arguments or jealousy and Scott will be shitting himself before he even sees us which is exactly how I want him to be."

Tony laughed at that.

"That's a good idea."

"I'm full of them. Another one is that you shouldn't be the one to tell them that. Get someone else to do it. If it's you, they'll be expecting something bad. Sorry to be blunt but this is yours and my daughter's safety that we are talking about."

"I get it. It's fine, I'll make Thor do it."

Tony smirked when Thor glared at him.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy that," Maggie said.

"Oh he will. He's becoming my errand boy now."

Thor gave him a look as if to say 'I'm right here!" while Loki tries to hold back his laughter.

"Thank you for doing this Tony."

"Don't be stupid. It's my pleasure."

"See you tomorrow, Shellhead."

With that, Maggie hung up the phone. Tony threw his phone in Thor's face. Thor was too busy sulking and didn't move fast enough so the phone hit him straight in the face.

Tony and Loki burst out laughing. Thor glared at them again but wasn't able to keep a straight face for long. Tony snuggled back down into his previous position with his head on Loki's lap.

He fell asleep knowing that this was what real family is like. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted for a while. It's been a busy month. Also, I just want to warn you guys that the next month is pretty busy for me as I have exams but I will still try to post as often as I can.
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> WAIT!!! Before you go, I wanted to ask you guys something really important. So, I've been thinking about the future of this fanfiction and the different story arcs I'm going to give characters. 
> 
> Basically I want your opinion on whether I should do a Bucky/Thor storyline or a Bucky/Shuri one. Or neither? Or both? Or just have the three of them become inseperable best friends? 
> 
> As you are the ones that will be reading this story, it's your choice. What do you think?
> 
> P.S. We'll find out what happened during the training next chapter. What do you think should happen?


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